Government scheme puts workers in the private sector out of work. Who would'a'thunk it? Could there be a subtle lesson in there somewhere?

Prisoners' hard labour is costing dozens of law-abiding Kiwis their jobs, according to industry bosses. Precast concrete is produced so cheaply by inmates at Auckland's Paremoremo Prison that firms have struggled to compete, says Almalgamated Workers Union Northern boss Ray Bianchi. The jail's "undercutting" of tenders had cost "at least 100" precast workers their jobs in recent years, Bianchi said. And he expected that figure to greatly increase due to the recession... The pre-cast operation was set up to "provide employment opportunities for prisoners" and to support construction of four new prisons, but soon started competing on the open market... Corrections refused to say how much money their pre-cast operation cost to set up, maintain or run annually and how much profit it made a year. They refused to answer the questions requested under the Official Information Act as "releasing the information would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position".